WINE SPRITZER GETS ‘SHARK TANK’ INVESTMENT
SHARK DRINKS UP WINE PITCH

Bon Affair founder Jayla Siciliano of Solana Beach wants her customers to have it all: alcohol on Thursday night, and waking up feeling refreshed Friday morning.

She believes her wine spritzers infused with electrolytes are the secret elixir to that ability to socialize longer and still feel great the next day, and at least one shark does, too. Shark investor Mark Cuban, that is.

Siciliano presented her $15 bottles of sugar-free sauvignon blanc and syrah spritzers on ABC’s high-pressure pitch show “Shark Tank” in an episode that aired Friday, and left the show with exactly what she wanted: a $150,000 investment, which Cuban gave in exchange for a 35 percent stake in her company.

Other sharks, including wine connoisseur Kevin O’Leary, thought her business, which floundered in early months because of problems with a bottler, was too risky.

O’Leary said Bon Affair’s $11,000 in sales for a six-week period is a long way from the $10 million in sales the company would need for a potential acquisition by one of the bigger alcohol companies. Even though he wasn’t interested in investing, he suggested Siciliano sell to Costco, one of the world’s largest purchasers of wine.

“You’re in a difficult situation because you’ve taken down a lot of investor dollars to try and build a whole new category in the wine business, but I think you’ve got a tough road ahead,” he told her. “I never give advice, but I know this space very well. Go do that, and good luck.”

As with most entrepreneurs who appear on the show, it wasn’t the first time Siciliano had shared her idea with potential investors. She raised about $500,000 in 2012 to start production, but lost 90 percent of her first run because of leaky bottle caps.

After raising an additional $200,000, she began selling the spritzers at retail in August 2013, and now is in about a dozen Whole Foods Markets from Los Angeles to San Diego, along with several Albertsons and a few smaller stores.

With a growing body of research that shows alcohol in moderation can be good for us, Siciliano’s healthy wine drink is just different enough to attract investments from people like Cuban and former Wendy’s CEO Kerrii Anderson.

Alcohol-centered events

Siciliano came up with the idea several years ago when managing products for the Diesel clothing company and then for Burton Snowboards in Burlington, Vt.

“I’ve always been really into health and fitness, but at the same time I love having fun and love to drink wine,” she said.

But she struggled with the fact that every work event seemed to center on alcohol.

“I just reached a certain age where I couldn’t still go out drinking and wake up and go do yoga at 6:30 a.m.,” Siciliano said.

That’s when she started pouring soda water in her wine. She could sip it all night and still feel good the next morning. The idea caught on not only among her female colleagues, but the men, too.

“It was when I saw a bunch of my guy friends drinking wine spritzers, that it hit me that the alcohol industry was missing something.”

Siciliano quit her job in 2009 to pursue her business idea. She continued doing contract work on the side, but also enrolled in the MBA program at the University of San Diego. By 2012, she had burned through her savings, 401(k) and credit cards and realized she needed to raise money if she was ever going to get her product on the shelf.

Anderson said she was attracted to Siciliano’s passion, but what really sold her on Bon Affair was the fact that it’s a product made by a woman to give professional women another tool for operating socially in the business world.

“I was just really drawn to the ability to participate responsibly, having some alternative that is less alcoholic and less caloric,” Anderson said. “Given our focus on eating healthier and better, it was so on trend for me, and I related to it personally.”

Siciliano has several things going for her: an increased desire among consumers for healthier alcoholic beverages, and a growing interest in both sparkling wines and domestic wines.

Booming sector

The charge for healthier alcoholic beverages has been led by the likes of Beam Suntory’s low-calorie cocktail brand Skinnygirl, which experienced a nearly 400 percent sales boom in 2011 before slowing to 19 percent growth in 2012.

Champagne and sparkling wine are also gaining traction among consumers. Market research company Mintel reports sparkling wine sales grew 9 percent in 2013, outperforming overall wine sales in the $41.5 billion market. And wine drinkers are turning more to domestic vintages, Mintel says.

Still, Cuban took a ribbing from fellow sharks for his investment.

“You’re going to regret that one, man,” said Daymond John.

“We’ll find out, right?” countered Cuban, who said it’s minimal risk for potentially huge reward. “It’s not like I’m spending $10 million. This is an option on a big business. If it works, it’s worth a lot of money. If it doesn’t, I’m out time and $150,000.”